Lancaster (Pennsylvania, USA)

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, (2000 pop. 56,348), the "Hickory Town" laid out in 1730, was the first inland town of William Penn's backwoods, almost 70 miles (115 km) west of his Philadelphia settlement of 1681. James Hamilton, whose family named Hamilton, Ontario, had earlier circumscribed a hickory tree at George Gibson's Tavern, a frequent native rendezvous. This tavern was near a fine spring, and was the only house in Lancaster. The log courthouse was built on the square in 1730. The town soon became a shopping center for a strong Mennonite community. By 1752 the population was 311. It was the seat of the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies, meeting from 1 October 1777, for nine months. It was the state capital 1799 to 1812, when Harrisburg permanently claimed this honor. It was the home of President James Buchanan.